Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Resonance World
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Resonance World.
A world crafted by a necromancer of the soul realm who poured his entire being into it.
Leyzon stepped into that place, which he regarded as something like a necromancers' group chat.
His closed eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing the scenery around him.
A single room with a table placed inside.
A lone book lay atop the table.
It appeared to be the guide to the Resonance World that the Gray Mage Tower Lord had mentioned.
'He made this impressively well.'
What skills had he used as the foundation to create a world like this?
It seemed on par with the Pioneer's combination vault.
'No need to dig into the how.'
Leyzon casually raised a hand.
A translucent version of his own hand came into view.
He'd properly become a spirit body, it seemed.
"Hmm?"
His fingers felt subtly different from before.
Leyzon glanced around the room in puzzlement.
His eyes soon landed on a mirror tucked in the corner.
Leyzon walked over to it.
The instant he caught sight of his reflection—
Leyzon froze in place.
"Huh?"
A bewildered voice slipped from his lips.
And small wonder—the figure in the mirror wasn't Leyzon.
It was Ryu Han-hyuk.
"What... why?"
Another bewildered murmur escaped him.
Then it dawned on him.
This was the Resonance World.
The realm of souls.
'My soul belongs to Ryu Han-hyuk, not Leyzon.'
He recalled hearing somewhere that every soul had its own inherent form.
What had inhabited Leyzon's body all this time was Ryu Han-hyuk.
Now, as a soul, it had reverted to its true shape.
"Ha... it's been ages."
He hadn't seen this face in months already.
He'd nearly forgotten what his original features looked like.
"Hmm."
Pretty handsome, actually.
As he stroked his chin with a satisfied look, memories from long ago bubbled up.
'I wonder how my real self is faring.'
His flesh-and-blood body couldn't still be sprawled alone in that room, could it?
If no one stumbled across it, he might just die there.
'Maybe the landlord's daughter picked the lock and checked on me.'
There was no way to confirm right now.
Better not dwell on it too much.
"I'm Leyzon now—not Ryu Han-hyuk."
He couldn't advance through the Dungeon Replay world as Ryu Han-hyuk.
Leyzon was what mattered here.
With that, Leyzon pushed aside the Ryu Han-hyuk that had resurfaced.
He shoved away grim hypotheticals like never making it back to reality.
Positivity was the fuel to press onward.
Negativity had no place in his vocabulary.
'Guess I'll be operating in this form here in the Resonance World.'
Not a bad deal, really.
Leyzon had crossed paths with the Gray Mage Tower Lord just recently.
'Someone here might recognize Leyzon's true face.'
With a different soul form, they wouldn't peg him as the Abyss.
Leyzon scratched vigorously at the back of his head.
Getting labeled the Abyss felt like massive overestimation somehow.
The undead were the impressive ones.
The master himself didn't need to be anything special.
Leyzon turned his attention straight to the book.
A six-digit number was inscribed on it.
"680126."
Leyzon read it aloud and lifted the book.
Something slipped free from its pages.
Like a torn sheet.
"A note?"
Was it tucked inside originally?
Hoping for some handy tip, he started to unfold it—
Then Leyzon stiffened at the text scrawled in the corner.
His eyes gradually widened.
The words in the corner.
Leyzon snapped his head up, face flustered.
'The real Leyzon has been here to the Resonance World before.'
And he'd left this note behind.
'Which means...'
The real Leyzon had foreseen Ryu Han-hyuk's possession.
"......How?"
The bewildered words tumbled out on their own.
That the real Leyzon had predicted his possession ahead of time.
It made no sense.
'Was me possessing Leyzon's body all part of the real Leyzon's plan?'
No clue.
The real Leyzon was long gone.
But if that was the case, it only raised more questions.
Why would the real Leyzon have engineered his possession?
'To pit me against the Empire?'
The Empire hounded and rounded up necromancers.
The real Leyzon had known that, living in hiding all the while.
Was keeping up the disguise just too exhausting?
'No—the undead's existence was something even the real Leyzon knew about.'
And Syria was right there as his closest ally.
If the real Leyzon had willed it, dodging the Empire's gaze wouldn't have been impossible.
His mind grew tangled.
He wanted to probe the true motives, but the source was ancient history.
'Wish the reason was spelled out here.'
Leyzon hastily unfolded the note.
His expression twisted sharply.
A single sentence filled the page.
And it had nothing to do with Leyzon.
It carried a completely unforeseen implication.
A necromancer in bed with the Empire.
Leyzon had pieced that together long ago through various twists and turns.
And now one was operating right here in the Resonance World.
'A haven for necromancers, they said.'
Planting spies—what was the angle?
Leyzon pressed a hand to his forehead, the Gray Mage Tower Lord coming to mind.
Did the Tower Lord know about this?
'He probably does.'
Leyzon pictured the Tower Lord's shrewd, probing gaze.
Which meant there could be some ulterior motive at play.
"Not a trustworthy soul in the bunch."
Good call not placing faith from the outset—would've been a nasty chop to the foot otherwise.
Leyzon quickly skimmed the book's contents.
The Resonance World's functions weren't overly complex.
'Can't alter a soul's core essence, but surface appearances can be changed.'
Likely a feature for necromancers wary of showing their faces.
'Not like necromancers blindly trust each other.'
Solid system.
Leyzon didn't particularly care, though.
Ryu Han-hyuk's face didn't exist anywhere in this world anyway.
Leyzon stood before the door and drew a deep breath.
Then he pushed the doorknob.
Creak—
A eerie chill seeped in alongside the opening door.
Leyzon stepped out to find a short corridor stretching ahead.
The moment he threw open the next door—
A vast hall sprawled unexpectedly before him.
Leyzon swept his gaze across it.
He quickly realized the hall held more than one door.
Doors crammed wall-to-wall throughout the hall.
Each bore a unique six-digit number.
Leyzon glanced back at his own door.
It matched: 680126.
Proof this was his room.
'Front half of a resident ID number.'
Which meant the rest led to other necromancers' rooms.
No telling how many necromancers there were in total.
Leyzon headed for the center.
Sofas encircled the middle, and guests had arrived ahead of him.
With Leyzon, that made six in all.
None bore anything resembling a human shape.
One was a skeleton, another a lizard-faced figure; there was a butterfly-masked person, a monkey, and finally a man with flames wreathing his head in place of hair.
They'd all altered their soul forms, evidently.
'Necromancers gonna necromance.'
Quirky bunch.
As Leyzon moved to speak—
"The Abyss, hounded by the Empire."
Leyzon's steps halted dead at the next words.
"I am the Abyss."
The flame-headed man.
The bold claim erupted from him.
An impostor, right out of the gate.
I am the Abyss.
The utterly unforeseen declaration left Leyzon blankly staring.
To hear this upon arrival.
Absurdity defined.
'No shame?'
Proclaiming himself the Abyss out loud—what was that about?
Middle-school syndrome vibes, even on second thought.
Abyss this, Abyss that.
'More to the point.'
Leyzon eyed the flame-headed man.
What made this guy think he could play Abyss?
Clack!
The skeleton man's teeth chattered.
"Heh heh... you serious?"
He managed a laugh in skeletal form.
"Forgot what fate befell everyone who's spouted that line?"
The lizard man spoke up quietly next.
His gaze on the flame-head was far from friendly.
"I simply judged the time for declaration had come."
The flame-head shrugged off their pressure.
"Foolish prattle—think you're the first or second moron to claim you're the Abyss?"
The butterfly-masked woman at the sofa's edge sneered.
"Of course—he's practically an idol to us necromancers!"
The monkey-faced man chimed in last.
He seemed more fixated on the Abyss than anyone.
'That idol's standing right here.'
But with all eyes locked on the flame-head, no one spared the late arrival a glance.
The flames atop the flame-head flickered.
Shifting gradually to blue.
"Then answer me this."
A peculiar pressure radiated from him, saturating the hall.
It ensnared every necromancer present.
Heavy.
To wield this much pressure with mere presence.
No ordinary soul.
"The tales I've shared with you all. Could anyone but the Abyss know them?"
Silence descended as his words hung in the air.
All but one, anyway.
The actual Abyss—Leyzon—aside.
Leyzon watched the exchange with keen fascination.
Overhearing quietly, the conversation had taken a bizarre turn.
Veering into wholly unexpected territory.
'Flame-head over there must've fed the others some prime intel before.'
They couldn't counter, so it had to be valuable stuff.
"If anything, weren't you lot the ones doubting me?"
"Ugh."
Sighs rippled through the necromancers.
Proof they'd quietly wondered if he might be the real deal.
'Spoiler: he's not.'
Leyzon dismissed it flatly.
Smooth talker, clearly.
Knowing the truth just made it ridiculous.
What even was the appeal of being the Abyss?
Plenty of necromancers apparently fancied themselves as such, beyond this one.
"......Speaking of which, we've got a new arrival."
The lizard man shattered the quiet, nodding toward Leyzon.
Gazes converged.
Leyzon nearly swallowed hard.
Hard to tell from afar.
But up close, their auras were all extraordinary.
Leyzon's instincts screamed it.
'Every last one here.'
Hero-class at minimum.
Hero-class everywhere?
'No—elite necromancer gathering explains it.'
Other classes had their share of Heroes too.
Just plummeted after that tier.
Heroes were executive-level in top guilds—one or two per outfit.
Not an impossible scene.
And the flame-head's aura stood out especially foreboding.
'This one's beyond Hero-class.'
Explained why they couldn't rebut his claim.
"Figured no new guests for a bit."
The butterfly mask eyed Leyzon with odd curiosity.
The Gray Mage Tower Lord controlled access to the Resonance World.
Necromancers were in dire straits.
She'd assumed no more would come.
"Alright, enough chatter—time to greet the newcomer."
The monkey-faced man tried lightening the mood.
Leyzon, observing silently, turned to the flame-head.
"You just claimed to be the Abyss."
The air turned to ice.
The flame-head's fire rippled once more.
"I know who the Abyss really is."
Leyzon cracked a grin amid the tension.
"But you? Doesn't look like it to me."
Why let the fake strut around?